I am sitting here in my room at the Breakers Hotel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina after an exhausting day at my granddaughters dance competition. She’s 8 going on 35, but sound asleep on the other side of our suite. We left Wilmington, NC this morning and arrived at the Convention Center in time to watch one of her friends perform her very first solo. Alannah has made it her mission to be at the competition even when she is not performing to support her friends. Alannah explained to me while we were headed down here today that she completely understands Marlie’s need for support because when she (Alannah) competed in her first solo she was also the very first one to dance in that competition too. See what I mean?

Alannah has to be onstage at 7:30 in the morning which she has to be at the Convention Center at 6:30 when the doors open. Have I ever mentioned I am not a morning person? I spent my entire career in nursing working night shift. Needless to say I am not looking forward to this little spike in my circadian rhythm.

I do enjoy watching Alannah compete in dance. She has two solos she is competing in tomorrow and then four group dances she is competing in. She loves dancing and she is at the studio every day during the week but Thursdays. She takes ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, clogging, hip hop and acro. When I was a kid you had three choices, ballet, tap and jazz. I will say that with the addition of more types of dance it has opened the door for more children to participate.

Alannah’s older brother who is 13 takes hip hop too. He doesn’t compete, but he does participate in the recitals through out the year. Andrew has Asperger’s and the dance has done wonders for his motor skills and his social skills.

During one of the breaks late this afternoon, I went outside with my camera to see if I could find some good shots. Alannah was with me and I showed her the way that light can change how a picture looks without changing anything else. I had her move around so that the sun would hit her target at different angles. She was really interested in taking the pictures and told me she didn’t realize how much you can affect the picture by just moving light around. I can see an SLR camera in her future.

That is my dream. To someday have an Nikon SLR camera. I really started getting into photography when in 2000. I have slowly gotten better cameras and believe it or not I have some really beautiful shots from a Kodak point and shoot camera. I love it because it was not too big and I could take it with me anywhere. When it died I was so disappointed. I so wanted to get a good SLR camera then, bu I just couldn’t afford it. After doing a lot of research and finding out that most cameras today only have the digital screen on the back of the camera to see your object I decided to get a Fujifilm. It is a bridge camera. Point and shoot but with lots of options for your own settings. Several good filters pre installed. Wireless transfer of pics to phone, tablet, and a 50x zoom. I have gotten some great shots. I was at a Phillies/Marlins baseball game two seasons ago and I was getting shots of the players swinging and missing the ball at home plate. Got the ball in mid air and the bat moving past it. I couldn’t be more pleased with this camera.

Well it’s after 11PM here on the East Coast and 5:30 will be here before I know it. Goodnight one and all.

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About Wanda

I am a Catholic widow, mother, grandmother, friend and according to my kids just a little bit crazy. My faith is paramount in my life. Spending time with my family, especially my four grandchildren is one of my most treasured blessings. I love Redskins football, Phillies baseball, NASCAR, quilting, genealogy and I am a bibliophile and struggling blogger.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sailaway from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain